Steam is having a Racing Fest sale until August 4th and I thought I might like to try. I used to play a lot of Gran Turismo 2 and 3 back in the day, especially the rally modes.
Any recommendations for me? Prefer anything under $10, no EA games, no Ubisoft games, and realistic although it’s not as important.
I’m also interested in Garfield Kart - Furious Racing if anyone has an opinion on that.
Another vote for Assetto Corsa. Ultimate is not the lowest price it’s ever been but still worthy of the price IMO considering how many hundreds (cough thousands) of hours I’ve gotten out of it. If you do get AC, I’d highly recommend a few things:
Content Manager: AC is great because of all of the mods it has built up over the years, but everything starts with Ilja’s (x4fab’s) Content Manager (now referring to as CM). This is an alternate (better) launcher and enables the use of the Custom Shaders Patch (included with CM).
Custom Shaders Patch: CSP brings a whole bunch of advanced settings and capabilities for everything from visuals to physics to how your driver reacts as you drive, weather and more. Both CM and CSP have free and paid versions so you can try them and if you like it you can pay a few bucks (literally) and unlock a whole bunch of additional features. I highly recommend both of these at the very least. The previous CM link has instructions on getting a full CM license through Itch.io. Paid CSP can be obtained via the linked Patreon.
Pure: This is an advanced weather controller from Peter Boese that utilizes CSP’s capabilities to bring fantastic dynamic weather, scheduled conditions, and absolutely beautiful skydomes. I also highly recommend this not only because Peter is awesome, but it’s also incredibly cheap. Peter also made an earlier weather controller known as Sol, but that is now outdated and completely outclassed by Pure. Don’t forget, in game rain comes from paid CSP, not Pure! Lots of people mix the two up since this is a weather controller.
Beyond that, you will find tons and tons of free and paid mods for cars, tracks, track skins and extensions, post-processing (PP) filters (to make the game look even better), sounds, etc. If you want it, it probably exists.
Edit: decipher_jeanne brought up a good point. Default controller support is pretty bad and can really ruin the AC experience. Thankfully, with CM and CSP, we have GamepadFX and custom controller scripts! For controller play I highly recommend Akeyroid7’s Advanced Gamepad Assist script.
- WRC 7, 10, Generations
- Dirt Rally 2.0
- Rush Rally Origins
- Old School Rally
- Super Woden GP2
- New Star GP
- Forza Horizon 5 (I don’t own this one, but hear it’s very good)
- BallisticNG
- Gravel
- GRIP: Combat Racing
- Wreckfest (don’t own this either but I’ve played it in the past, it’s good)
- Assetto Corsa
- Assetto Corsa Competizione
- Descenders
- Grid Autosport
- Redout
- Automobilista 2
- V-Rally 4
- Sebastian Loeb Rally Evo
These vary between arcade and simulation racing, and things in between. For some (Assetto Corsa games, Automobilista, WRC and Dirt Rally games) a racing wheel is highly recommended.
You mean BeamNG right?
both ballisticng and beamng are very good
Oh, I didn’t realise it’s an actual game, haha. My bad, I thought they didn’t catch an autocorrect mistake.
No worries. I’ve heard of BeamNG but don’t own it and am not familiar with it to recommend. I meant BallisticNG, it’s an AG racer in the style of the Wipeout games.
Wreckfest is stupid fun but more arcade than realism.
Assetto Corsa is a steal at $5. It’s a bit older, but there is a ton of community-made content.
Shout-out for Tokyo Xtreme Racer! I’m bummed it isn’t on sale though. It’s a remake of a game I was hooked on in highschool. You drive around highways looking for other street racers, then you flash your lights at em, and your off. Good times.
As everyone else said, Aseto Corsa but I find it’s only good if you have wheels and pedals already.
I don’t remember who makes the Forza games, but imo, except for Grand Tourismo, they have the best controller experience out there. Forza Horizons 5 is a bit arcadey but still realistic-ish, and does rally and road racing but not circuit. And it’s Microsoft locked. Forza motorsport is bad, don’t waste money there and its even more Microsoft locked.
AeroGPX or BallisticNG if you are into that, thank me later
Redout 2 if you’re into futuristic racers. It’s a lot of fun.
How’s Redout 2 compared to the first one? I have the original, but have been on the fence with the sequel.
It’s a more polished version of the first, its not that different. If you liked the first you’ll enjoy the 2nd
- Art of Rally
- Circuit Superstars
- BallisticNG
- GRIP: Combat Racing
- Ride 3
You suck at parking is a neat game. Well worth the $4 they are asking for it right now. It’s not a typical racing game, more like a souped up hot wheels track, with a “how accurately and fast can you park in the correct spot,” element.
Automobilista 2, Dirt Rally 2.0, and assetto corsa / assetto corsa competitzione are all super fun. Idk what’s actually on sale though.
From all the racers I‘ve played, DiRT 2 and GRiD 2 are probably my favos, and Forza Horizon 4 is also really good. But the former two are EA now that Codemasters has been bought (although they weren‘t on release) and FH4 is delisted (and 30ish bucks anyway) so…
Dirt 2Dirt Rally 2 is a game that I have really enjoyed being shit at.You probably mean Dirt Rally 2, I meant the original DiRT 2, which is pretty arcade-y and easy.
(The one that had Games for Windows LIVE (yep lol))
Correct, it should be Dirt Rally 2. Highly recommend that for real rally simulation.
I can second that, it‘s a good sim for what I can tell anyway. (Although also EA now, see OP‘s requirements)
If you’ve got a wheel and pedals, F1 2019 is pretty fun and doesn’t have a lot of the forced online hoops you need to jump through for later editions like 2024.
Mate, that game ain’t sold no more
🏴☠️
This kinda isn’t in the same genre as normal racing. But Lonely Mountain Downhill is a game where you’re mountain biking and trying to go faster and faster to beat certain goals or personal records. It’s adorable and fun
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